Milwaukee vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Milwaukee	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2078	$1454
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5083	$3624
🏠 One person rent	$1194	$697
🏘️ Family rent	$1948	$1213
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$527
🚐 Transport expenses	$118	$78.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3809	$935
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	7 km
🎓 Higher education	81	60
😀 Quality of life	89	72
🏙️ Population	577K	335K

The cost of living in Milwaukee is 43% more expensive than in San Jose, Costa Rica. Cities ranked 1833rd and 4213th ($2078 vs $1454) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1456th and 2nd in the United States and Costa Rica, respectively. Check the United States vs Costa Rica comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Milwaukee compared to 0.6 months in San Jose, Costa Rica. Milwaukee ranked 70th best city to live in the United States vs San Jose, Costa Rica ranked 1st in Costa Rica, while ranked 260th and 3173rd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/milwaukee/san-jose-cr.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Milwaukee vs San Jose, Costa Rica infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/milwaukee/san-jose-cr" target="_blank">Milwaukee vs San Jose, Costa Rica - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Milwaukee vs San Jose, Costa Rica

Prices for goods and services in Milwaukee and San Jose are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Milwaukee	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.5	$11.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.5	$51
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.91	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.7	$2.9
☕ Cappuccino	$5.12	$4.68
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.01	$2.14
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1421	$821
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$908	$531
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2353	$1484
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1538	$973
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$121	$54.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$185	$83.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$62.1	$53.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.44%	9.69%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2254	$2465
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1645	$1757
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$73.7	$48.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16	$15.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$2.26
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.87	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.24	$2.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.58	$3.03
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$11.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$8.94
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$13.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.4	$4.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.62	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.34	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$3.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.32	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.2	$20.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.81	$2.64
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$5.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.34	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.34	$9.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.57	$3.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.85	$4.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$44.7	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.6	$7.93
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$166	$96.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.8	$15.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$48.1	$67.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.1	$129
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1835	$704
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24369	$14663

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Milwaukee

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	West Allis	$1962
6.3 km or 3.9 mi	Wauwatosa	$1986
10 km or 6.4 mi	Greenfield	$1965
13 km or 8.3 mi	Brookfield	$1924
15 km or 9.4 mi	New Berlin	$1963
17 km or 11 mi	South Milwaukee	$2040
17 km or 11 mi	Menomonee Falls	$1997
17 km or 11 mi	Franklin	$1997
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Creek	$2028
19 km or 12 mi	Mequon	$2020
22 km or 14 mi	Muskego	$1966
23 km or 14 mi	Waukesha	$1812
27 km or 17 mi	Caledonia	$2037
37 km or 23 mi	Mount Pleasant	$2079
38 km or 24 mi	Racine	$2070
46 km or 28 mi	West Bend	$1971
53 km or 33 mi	Kenosha	$2034
57 km or 36 mi	Pleasant Prairie	$2092
64 km or 40 mi	Watertown	$1990
67 km or 42 mi	Zion	$2381
74 km or 46 mi	Fort Atkinson	$1814
76 km or 47 mi	Round Lake Beach	$2365
76 km or 47 mi	Gurnee	$2379
77 km or 48 mi	Waukegan	$2435
78 km or 49 mi	Grayslake	$2354
80 km or 50 mi	Sheboygan	$1746
81 km or 51 mi	North Chicago	$2403
84 km or 52 mi	McHenry	$2437
85 km or 53 mi	Libertyville	$2410
87 km or 54 mi	Mundelein	$2131
90 km or 56 mi	Fond du Lac	$1844
91 km or 57 mi	Woodstock	$2229
91 km or 57 mi	Vernon Hills	$2402
96 km or 60 mi	Janesville	$1784
97 km or 60 mi	Crystal Lake	$2504
97 km or 60 mi	Highland Park	$2398
98 km or 61 mi	Buffalo Grove	$2371
101 km or 63 mi	Lake in the Hills	$2519
102 km or 63 mi	Wheeling	$2434
103 km or 64 mi	Northbrook	$2415

Cities near San Jose, Costa Rica

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.9 km or 4.9 mi	Heredia	$1378
17 km or 11 mi	Alajuela	$1323
20 km or 12 mi	Cartago	$1290
82 km or 51 mi	Puntarenas	$825
115 km or 72 mi	Limon	$1332
124 km or 77 mi	Santa Teresa	$1273
167 km or 104 mi	Liberia	$957
197 km or 122 mi	Tamarindo	$1832
244 km or 151 mi	San Juan del Sur	$840
246 km or 153 mi	David	$922
279 km or 173 mi	Juigalpa	$782
302 km or 188 mi	Granada	$699
316 km or 196 mi	Masaya	$812
343 km or 213 mi	Managua	$796
387 km or 241 mi	Matagalpa	$679
398 km or 247 mi	Santiago de Veraguas	$1122
408 km or 253 mi	Jinotega	$470
413 km or 257 mi	Leon	$754
429 km or 266 mi	Esteli	$687
438 km or 272 mi	Penonome	$1153
447 km or 278 mi	Chinandega	$787
457 km or 284 mi	Chitre	$1154
463 km or 288 mi	Colon	$1179
486 km or 302 mi	La Chorrera	$977
508 km or 316 mi	Balboa	$1425
513 km or 319 mi	Panama City	$1583
524 km or 326 mi	Tocumen	$1403
535 km or 333 mi	Pacora	$1395
574 km or 357 mi	Tegucigalpa	$863
596 km or 370 mi	San Miguel	$1120
609 km or 378 mi	Usulutan	$1109
635 km or 395 mi	Comayagua	$705
666 km or 414 mi	Yoro	$737
696 km or 432 mi	San Salvador	$1274
697 km or 433 mi	Soyapango	$1246
701 km or 435 mi	Mejicanos	$1237
702 km or 436 mi	Apopa	$1221
703 km or 437 mi	Santa Tecla	$1178
713 km or 443 mi	La Ceiba	$626
729 km or 453 mi	El Progreso	$804